Field
The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, and more particularly, to techniques of fast authentication/association in a wireless network.
Background
In many telecommunication systems, communications networks are used to exchange messages among several interacting spatially-separated devices. Networks may be classified according to geographic scope, which could be, for example, a metropolitan area, a local area, or a personal area. Such networks would be designated respectively as a wide area network (WAN), metropolitan area network (MAN), local area network (LAN), wireless local area network (WLAN), or personal area network (PAN). Networks also differ according to the switching/routing technique used to interconnect the various network nodes and devices (e.g., circuit switching vs. packet switching), the type of physical media employed for transmission (e.g., wired vs. wireless), and the set of communication protocols used (e.g., Internet protocol suite, Synchronous Optical Networking (SONET), Ethernet, etc.).
Wireless networks are often preferred when the network elements are mobile and thus have dynamic connectivity needs, or if the network architecture is formed in an ad hoc, rather than fixed, topology. Wireless networks employ intangible physical media in an unguided propagation mode using electromagnetic waves in the radio, microwave, infra-red, optical, etc. frequency bands. Wireless networks advantageously facilitate user mobility and rapid field deployment when compared to fixed wired networks.
With respect to WLANs in highly populated environments (e.g., WiFi hotspots in a highly populated city or subway stations), techniques for authentication/association may be improved. Existing caching-based solution, e.g., pairwise master key (PMK) caching, may not be effective or scalable due to a large number of simultaneous authentication/association requests and/or due to a large number of STA states that need to be kept at an AP. Thus, there is a need to provide fast authentication and association in such an environment.